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. 2024 Aug 28;14(4):146-155.
doi: 10.1177/19253621241272228. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Insulin-Related Suicides-3 Cases

Joseph A Prahlow, Marcel Castor, Prentiss Jones

Insulin-Related Suicides-3 Cases

Joseph A Prahlow et al. Acad Forensic Pathol. .

Abstract

Insulin is a pancreas-produced hormone, which is essential for normal life. In persons with diabetes, who lack sufficient production of endogenous insulin, the availability of exogenously-produced and administered insulin represents an extremely valuable, life-preserving medical advancement. Unfortunately, as with many other medications, overdosage with insulin can and does occur, sometimes in an intentional suicidal manner. Another possible insulin-related suicidal action involves the intentional cessation of insulin therapy by someone who relies on insulin for survival. In this case series, we present 3 cases of insulin-related suicides, including two related to intentional insulin overdose and one where a known diabetic purposefully stopped taking insulin in order to commit suicide.

Keywords: Forensic pathology; diabetes; insulin; intentional medication withdrawal; medication cessation; overdose; suicide.

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Conflict of interest statement

This paper was presented at the 2022 National Association of Medical Examiners Annual Meeting. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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